European judges have ruled in favour of Amanda Knox's appeal over her remaining conviction in relation to the murder of Leeds student Meredith Kercher in 2007.

Ms Knox was convicted, but later cleared, of Ms Kercher's murder following years of legal battles.

Meredith Kercher

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said on Thursday that there had been breaches of Ms Knox's rights leading up to a related conviction for malicious accusation.

Italian police alleged Ms Knox made false accusations against Congolese bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, knowing him to be innocent and in order to distract investigators away from her own responsibility.

But Ms Knox, now 31 years old, appealed on the grounds she was denied access to a lawyer and an independent interpreter, was slapped on the head and subjected to psychological pressure by Italian police.

The ECHR ruled that there had been a violation of Ms Knox's rights when her claims of ill-treatment in police custody were not investigated.

But the judges said the court did not have any evidence that Ms Knox was subjected to the "inhuman or degrading treatment" she complained about.

They also said that the Italian government had failed to show that Ms Knox's restricted access to a lawyer at police interview had not "irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole".

Judges further found that authorities had failed to assess the conduct of the interpreter assigned to Ms Knox and whether this had affected criminal proceedings against her.

The Italian government was ordered to pay Ms Knox 10,400 euro (£9,000) in damages and 8,000 euro (£7,000) for costs and expenses.

The body of Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old Leeds University exchange student, was found by police in the flat she shared with Ms Knox on November 2, 2007.

Officers discovered her throat was slashed and she had been sexually assaulted.

Ms Knox and her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were arrested and later convicted of murder and sexual assault in 2009.